Concerns for low-resource countries, with under-prepared intensive care units, facing the COVID-19 pandemic.
Infect Dis Health
; 25(4): 227-232, 2020 11.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-548522
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Low-resource countries with fragile healthcare systems lack trained healthcare professionals and specialized resources for COVID-19 patient hospitalization, including mechanical ventilators. Additional socio-economic complications such as civil war and financial crisis in Libya and other low-resource countries further complicate healthcare delivery.METHODS:
A cross-sectional survey evaluating hospital and intensive care unit's capacity and readiness was performed from 16 leading Libyan hospitals in March 2020. In addition, a survey was conducted among 400 doctors who worked in these hospitals to evaluate the status of personal protective equipment.RESULTS:
Out of 16 hospitals, the highest hospital capacity was 1000 in-patient beds, while the lowest was 25 beds with a median of 200 (IQR 52-417, range 25-1000) hospital beds. However, a median of only eight (IQR 6-14, range 3-37) available functioning ICU beds were reported in these hospitals. Only 9 (IQR 4.5-14, range 2-20) mechanical ventilators were reported and none of the hospitals had a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction machine for COVID-19 testing. Moreover, they relied on one of two central laboratories located in major cities. Our PPE survey revealed that 56.7% hospitals lacked PPE and 53% of healthcare workers reported that they did not receive proper PPE training. In addition, 70% reported that they were buying the PPE themselves as hospitals did not provide them.CONCLUSION:
This study provides an alarming overview of the unpreparedness of Libyan hospitals for detecting and treating patients with COVID-19 and limiting the spread of the pandemic.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pneumonia, Viral
/
Coronavirus Infections
/
Health Resources
/
Intensive Care Units
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Africa
Language:
English
Journal:
Infect Dis Health
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
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